Without doubt, the word “politics” stirs the emotions. But, is your emotional reaction getting in the way of being able to deal effectively with the politics that are swirling around you?
That’s what is happening for one of my coaching clients at the moment.
She is a very strong and principled woman. As a senior level HR professional she has a great deal of experience to fall back on, yet one thing that has thus far eluded her, is being able to handle the politics.
Her values include loyalty ad fairness. These values are so strong that when she experiences anything that runs counter to them, she has a very deep and very strong emotional reaction.
As we went deeper, one of the things I encouraged her to consider is:
“Politics is simply decision making processes, either at an individual or a group level.”
And since these are processes, the only way you can see processes clearly is by putting your emotions to one side. Easier said than done, but work-in-progress.
To help get her started, I shared the four stages of politics:
- Intelligence Gathering: A time when your judgement needs to be suspended to allow for the collection of as much information as possible about the agendas, motives and emotions of others in the arena.
- Analysis: A time for clinical assessment of all the information collected, and yes, one’s own views and gut feel too. But still, keep the emotions out of it.
- Decision-Making: Drawing calm conclusions and then deciding what is the best course of action. Again, any emotions on your part will cloud the decision.
- Action: As soon as possible, get moving on your decision. At this point, you can bring the right level, amount and type of emotion into play – based on your decision about what will aid your cause.
Sure, there is a lot more for my client to work on, because that emotional reaction is still going to be there. However the more practiced she becomes at the clinical analysis, the more easily she will be able to channel that emotion in the right direction for the right effect.
Here are some resources to help you take a more clinical approach to the early phases of the work:
- Six Pillars of Political Mastery: Phases to understanding and handling the politics (read now).
- Nine Traits of a Professional Influencer: For some a dream, for others, their reality (read now).
- Mapping the Politics Around Your Organisation: A table top process to explore what’s happening that can be used with your colleagues for greater understanding and sharing (read now).
- Mastering the Politics. Online course to help you learn how to take a more clinical approach to workplace politics (review now).
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